Pitching fills gap for quieter Jays bats
The Blue Jays have been a hit in August — in the standings and at the box office. But not at the plate.
They bludgeoned their way to a 45- 46 record at the all- star break. Since then, the offence has waned. But the remarkably improved pitching staff and defence have transformed the Jays into a threedimensional contender.
Their 12- 3 record in August is the best in baseball. So is their 20- 8 record since the all- star break.
While their scoring pace has slowed, the pitchers have taken charge in a way unimaginable a month ago, thanks in part to tradedeadline deals that brought in David Price and two reliable relievers.
The pitching upsurge, which had began even before the trades, came at a perfect time for the Jays, who lead in the wild- card race and trail the first- place Yankees by a halfgame. As manager John Gibbons keeps saying, no matter how potent the offence, it cannot turn the tide every night.
And lately the offence has tailed off. Six players in the everyday lineup — Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Smoak, Russell Martin, Ryan Goins, Kevin Pillar and Ben Revere — are batting a combined .182 ( 50for- 275) in August.
In every case, those players are important for their defence, of course. But they have also shifted the offensive burden to Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, all of whom are flourishing at the plate this month, even though opponents are pitching them tougher than ever.
Tulowitzki’s slump is the most prominent, if only because so much was expected after Alex Anthopoulos landed the shortstop in a trade for Jose Reyes and three pitching prospects. A career .298 hitter who batted .340 last year, Tulowitzki is 9- for- 50 (. 180) this month.
If he is troubled by the slump, Tulowitzki does a good job of hiding it.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I’m a competitor. You don’t want to go out there and not succeed. But you can’t let it alter your approach. You just keep on working, play good defence and do whatever you can that day to help the team win.”
Most of the pitchers he faces these days are new to him. In recent games, he and the Jays have faced some good ones — Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova twice, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Ervin Santana and top- rated Yankees prospect Luis Severino.
Tulowitzki does not use unfamiliarity as an excuse.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an issue,” he said. “In the National League, you’re going to face guys you haven’t seen before. It happens other places. I think more than anything, it’s just been some good pitching and some tough luck at times.
“But it’s the game of baseball too. I’ve been playing for a while now and you understand that you go through tough times. It’s about working every single day to try to better yourself. Hopefully, I get some results soon.”
But thanks to the pitching, and to the hot hitting of Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion, the Jays have been scoring just enough — even though they have scored in only four of their past 40 innings.
In August, the Jays have averaged 4.8 runs per game ( down from 5.34 before the break) but opponents have averaged 2.5. Toronto starters have allowed three or fewer earned runs in 20 consecutive games.
Before the break, Toronto’s staff ERA of 4.18 ranked 23rd in the majors. Since then, their ERA is 2.18. That’s No. 1.
Price and relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe helped fuel the turnaround. But even before those moves, the improved work of R. A. Dickey and Marco Estrada and the steady performance of Mark Buehrle had begun to stabilize the rotation.
Dickey’s ERA since the break is 1.49. Estrada’s is 2.45 and Buehrle’s is 3.21. Drew Hutchison’s last two starts were solid. Adding an ace was icing. Price is 2- 0 with a 1.61 ERA in three Toronto starts.
The Jays’ next stop is Philadelphia after they dropped two of three to the Yankees on the weekend. In their six most recent games with the Yanks, the Jays won four times and outscored the Yankees 17- 10 in the six games.
For the season, they are 8- 4 vs. the Yankees, with seven games to go. Both teams are pitching better than they were in the first half. Both boast firepower. While their games have often been low- scoring, home runs have often decided the issue. After Sunday’s 3- 1 win, Jays manager John Gibbons was asked whether the two recent series taught him and his club anything new about the Yankees. No, he said. Teams that meet this often can keep no secrets.
What’s new, he said, is that this year, Jays- Yankees games mean something for both clubs.
“Both teams are good,” he said.
Logan Couture was just a preschooler when the Toronto Blue Jays won back- to- back World Series titles in 1992 and ‘ 93.
Wearing his team logo pyjamas, the San Jose Sharks forward fought to stay awake to watch the games.
Matt Moulson of the Buffalo Sabres has home plate dirt from the 1993 victory. His father took him downtown from their Mississauga home to celebrate each of those championships.
Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals hasn’t been alive to see the Blue Jays even make the playoffs. He’s ready.
Just like fans across Canada, NHL players are getting caught up in Blue Jays fever. Couture watches every game, even when in San Jose, because after so many games without much of a payoff, he doesn’t want to miss anything now.
“Even before some of our games I’m following,” Couture said. “I’m a pretty diehard fan, so to finally see them putting a streak like this together and to give themselves a chance to make the post- season has been pretty incredible as a fan.”
Along with Couture, you can count Sharks teammate Joel Ward, Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings and Teddy Purcell of the Edmonton Oilers among the NHL players who are also Blue Jays fans.
The past few weeks have been something special, since the Blue Jays acquired shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and ace pitcher David Price at the end of July and went on to win 15 of 18 games. Couture left his phone at home on July 30 to play golf and returned to 27 text messages about Toronto getting Price.
“I definitely did not see that coming,” Couture said.
Wilson, 21, got to his third game of the season a few days later using tickets from relief pitcher and Capitals fan Brett Cecil and sat in the row behind Price’s parents for the lefty’s debut.
“He obviously really earned the hometown respect right out of the gate,” said Wilson, who lives a short walk from Rogers Centre. “He had bases loaded, none out and he dialed in and got out of that jam. He’s been nothing but great so far. I think everyone’s just really excited to have something to cheer about and have the Jays doing so well.”
Moulson watched every game growing up and catches what he can now while living with his wife and children in Connecticut. With the Blue Jays chasing down the New York Yankees for the American League East title, the 31- yearold Moulson hopes a playoff run makes a difference for his family.
“Hopefully we’ll get to a couple games and turn the wife and kids into Jays fans,” Moulson said. “My kids are really young, so they’ve got Yankees and Jays hats. My wife’s from the New York/ Connecticut area. She’s not a big Yankees fan. She could easily be switched.”
The NHL season starts when the MLB post- season begins, so Couture is rooting for the Blue Jays to face the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. At home, though, he can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like.
“It’ll be pretty special,” Couture, 26, said. “Just the way that the fans have reacted right now. They’re still a couple months away from the playoffs and you see how crazy they are now.”
There’s reason for that, Couture figures, because this season feels different than ones in the recent past in which the Jays have flirted with contention only to fall apart.
“Even though it’s not a sure thing that they’re going to make the playoffs, it definitely feels that they have the team to do it, where in the past there was so many question marks and injuries and stuff like that,” Couture said. “This is a year where it just feels like it’s certain that they’re going to be in the playoffs and give themselves a chance to go all the way.”